Genuine mutual interest

BRATISLAVA, May 21, 2021 – Today’s meeting of Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Slovakia Roman Vassilenko with Irena Bihariová, the chairwoman of the most liberal party in the country, Progresívne Slovensko, was permeated with great mutual interest.

A well-known lawyer and human rights activist, Irena Bihariová almost a year ago was elected to lead the party, on whose ticket President Zuzana Čaputová successfully ran for her post in 2019. In the parliamentary elections in 2020, the party did not make it to the legislature; today, however, according to opinion polls, it is steadily gaining about 10%.

During the meeting, the Ambassador spoke about the state of socio-economic and political development of Kazakhstan, including in the era of fighting against the coronavirus pandemic. Irena Bihariová, a representative of the Roma community, was especially interested in the experience of maintaning and strengthening interethnic and interreligious harmony in the republic, where representatives of about 130 nationalities live, as well as the work of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and the recent election of the well-known Kazakh diplomat Kairat Abdrakhmanov as the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities.

The interlocutors discussed many issues, including expected results of the ongoing population census in Slovakia. Irena Bihariová spoke about the ideological platform, priorities, activities and plans of the party, which has a clear program aimed at achieving the goals of a “true social liberalism.”

The interlocutors expressed mutual interest in continuing the interested dialogue and developing ties in the future.